No Dates Yet in Malaysia, Singapore Conspiracy Theories and Drama in Manila
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After last week’s ‘where is the Timor Leste coverage, world?’ whinge — the gods have provided! New Mandala has a long-ish read about the influence of the KHUNTO Party which picked up five seats in the July election. This is a fascinating piece that is a must read this week, if you ask me, plus the photos are stunning. Australia and Timor Leste will continue working closely with the announcement defence exporter Austal will build two patrol boats for Timor Leste. Gay Star News has covered a report from the brilliant Asean SOGIE Caucus which found a majority of LGBT Timorese have faced sexual violence and abuse. We are NOT talking about Asean knocking back Timor Leste membership for another year because I am worked up about it and need to pitch it elsewhere today. Timor Leste would be an excellent addition to the bloc which would benefit from a bit of fresh blood. I think this looks simple, but it isn’t — so I hope to be back next week with a link to a nice 900-worder.
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Did you know Laos’ debt is at least 52 percent of GDP? I didn’t. Here’s a good one from Asia Times (a lot of David Hutt this week) outlining many of the causes — and it’s not all about communism. And Holly Robertson hangs out with Vientiane Rescue, a volunteer group making up for the capital’s lack of ambulance service. Apart from being a ripper read, the way she has told this story is unlike anything I’ve read before. A China-backed airport development has been abandoned.
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Quick whip around for Vietnam this week ahead of the APEC summit in Da Nang, which is set to ruin my Google Alerts in the coming days. More importantly, though, the deadly typhoon season continues with Typhoon Damrey causing flooding across much of the country including Hoi An. Over 90 people have been killed in what is the latest in a series of deadly storms this year. David Hutt (told ya) takes a look at mental health in Vietnam. And wow, look at this, David Hutt on Nguyen Phu Trong. The always popular ‘what will America say about human rights when they visit country x’ is getting good ground this week but the BBC has set a high standard with this piece.
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Over in Brunei, the Diplomat has given us two: here’s a take on the US-Brunei naval exercises and another on Singapore-Brunei defence ties.
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Singapore’s LGBT community supports itself when the government won’t. Kishore Mahbubani has announced his retirement from the LKY School of Public Policy. There’s a bit of chitter-chatter about this on Twitter implying a link between the announcement and the August ‘spying’ scandal at the school (remember), but it’s all very wink-wink-nudge-nudge at this stage. I like this one about foreign policy teething pains. “Singaporeans are more likely to accept new citizens as being “truly Singaporean” if they are of the country’s four core ethnic groups, but those of other ethnicities, such as Korean or Filipino, face greater difficulties being accepted.”
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Southeast Asia Globe takes a look at Cambodian women leading the resistance to corporate interests. “On Tuesday, it emerged through local media reports the US had decided to discontinue annual funding in 2018, worth about $2 million, to clear explosive remnants of war in Cambodia.” This is plainly nasty, given how little the figure is and how much of a difference it can make, and Hun Sen was already one to watch when Trump comes to the neighbourhood. Will he pick a fight? Happy independence celebrations, guys. Come on over to our side, Hun Sen tells CNRP members.
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Thailand’s is slowly getting back to its normal boisterous self after shutting down for the King’s funeral. Exports are looking good. The Puea Thai Party called on the junta to end a ban on political activity amid fears elections could be delayed (AGAIN!). The New York Times has dedicated the year to covering the US war in the region, but largely it hasn’t really fit the scope of this project so I’ve ignored it (ultra US-centric, no thanks). But this one on the more hidden side of the war involving Thailand is a must read. Anyway, here’s a lovely one from Foreign Policy on the King and that’s it, we won’t talk about it again.
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I’ve been working on a big Malaysia story this week, so I’m feeling very Malaysia’d out — although I can’t wait to share it! Najib Razak has laid into the DAP, trying to drum up votes in the ethnic-Chinese community. Well, so what. After swirling rumours an election date would be announced by the end of the year, a rough wet season makes that unlikely. The New York Times is loving PappaRich. Let’s take a look at Malaysia-China relations. Two North Koreans who helped in the assassination of Kim Jong nam fled the country shortly after the death, the trial has been told. See ya later, Prince Charles.
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The Philippines has been on permanent ‘breaking news’ status this week, so I’m going to give it another few days before it becomes apparent what is really the huge stories and what’s the noise. Former President Benigno Aquino III is facing charges of liability dating back to the Mamasapano incident in 2015 during which 44 police officers were killed. Even as I’m typing this, it’s clearly obvious this is a massive story. Here are a few links, let’s pick this up next week.
As the church prepared a massive protest against extrajudicial killings (which from now on I will always refer to as EJKs, just fyi) the president was calling for help. Just over a third of Filipinos now expect Duterte to hold his promises, a drop in every single demographic. The Department of Defense and the Armed Forces briefed VP Leni Robredo on the situation in Mindanao, but added they would not support any sort of revolutionary government — which she asked about after Duterte suggested he would launch if everyone was out to get him. Southeast Asia’s new Islamic State top dog is reportedly 31-year-old Sabahan Mohammad Amin Baco hailing from Malaysia but currently leading the Maute Group down south.
Okay, now the last two biggies: the hearing into the hazing death of law student Horacio Castillo III has begun. And construction of a makeshift fishermen’s shelter in the Spratlys has been ditched after Duterte received complaints from China. Hmm.
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Hello, Indonesia. A survey which found millennials hold a low view of foreign workers in the country has prompted a lot of soul-searching, including this interesting editorial from Jakarta Post. I just want to quickly say that like a lot of places in the world afraid of foreign workers taking jobs, much of the analysis here has missed the domestic factors on why so many young Indonesians feel insecure in the workforce.
Anyways. The FPI is upset Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan didn’t attend anniversary celebrations of the massive 411 demo against Ahok last year. They say Anies had just used the group for political gain, to which I say. Robberies are the old way of funding terrorism — now we’ve got apps for that. This seems to be breaking today, but armed separatists have occupied villages in Papua in a huge escalation of troubles which have bubbled throughout the year. One to keep an eye on!
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Myanmar’s de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi is probably about to have a really bad few days at APEC with Western leaders tipping some heavy conversations about human rights. Proposed sanctions might just be about the only thing the US Congress agrees on, VOA reports. “Girls and women forced to flee their homes in Myanmar and Syria lack menstruation supplies and safe, private toilets, a new study finds.” I’m just dipping in here today, I’m mad.
